Go up to the mountains 1

There is a mountain (the three crowns) that I can see from my flat – most days – when there’s not too much cloud. To my shame I have been looking at it for more than a year but not yet climbed it.

A couple of weeks ago I rectified that: with the aid of a half-way  decent Spanish walking map I worked out where to start from and how best to tackle it. And, with two brave British couch-surfers we made our bid. 

As the name suggests the three crowns has three peaks: we made the first two: the gap between the second and third proved beyond our mountain skills without a rope.   Although less than 1000m high it is  a serious mountain.  There was some serious scrambling involved!

 It was a lovely day out though, with the best views yet across Bidasoa and back to Hendaye. 

View from Port Plaisance

Took my new bicycle for a test spin yesterday evening just before sunset.  I chanced upon what has to be one of the most beautiful panoramas of Bidasoa, taken from Port Plaisance.  It captures the three mountains that define and frame this watershed.  One can nearly always see one of them no matter where you are, but I'd never seen all three together in the same frame.

From top to bottom:

La Rhune (the highest of the three) with a full moon rising to the left (sadly not visible in the photo)

Les Trois Corrounes, the wildest and most forested, with a mantle of cloud

Jaizkibel, the most westerly peak of the Pyrenees, with Hondarribia catching the evening sun.  There was a drumming festival on the  Spanish side so the whole valley was reverberating with drum sounds, like Carnaval was taking place.   

Randonne

A short couple of hours stroll from the chapel at Guadalupe to Jaizkibel (543m) the last peak before the Pyrenees tumbles into the Atlantic.  The Bay of Figs and the Bay of Biscay on my right hand side,  La Rhune and the Three Crowns on the right:  Ohri, the western-most 2000m peak visible for just a few minutes before arriving at the look-out point at Jaizkibel.  A short but very enjoyable walk.

The view from Guadalupe across the Bidasoa towards La Rhune, 

possibly the best 'Mirador' on the Bidasoa.

The Three Crowns from Jaizkibel